Phoenix Theatre’s Wild Honey shows what it is to be human

The Colonel (Colin Doig) received a summons letter from the Magistrate just like everyone else, including Anna Petrovna (Arielle Permack), Sergey (Aiden Dunsmuir) and his Sofya (Shea O’Connor), and Dr.Triletzky (Sheldon Graham). Wild Honey, Michael Frayn’s adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s “lost” play, runs at the Phoenix Theatre at UVic until February 20.

The University of Victoria’s Phoenix Theatre is back for another year of interesting and diverse theatre.

Some of the University’s students are moving on and other new ones have come in to add to the range of performances.

Their version of Wild Honey, adapted from an original play by Anton Chekhov by Michael Frayn, included a solid cast of actors.

Anna Petrovna, played by Arielle Permack in her Phoenix farewell performance, formed the perfect spoke around which the play – and its players –revolved. Permack’s commanding delivery is clear and smooth, often bringing the cast back to centre figuratively, if not literally, during the performance.

Phoenix veterans Nicholas Guerreiro, Jack Hays, Shea O’Connor and Chloé Dufort kept the pace of melodrama and farce on its feet for the two-hour production.

One new face stood out among the typically crowded Phoenix stage. Mary Van Den Bossche, a second-year student in her first main stage performance playing the role of horse thief Osip, exuded a calm confidence, walking through the piece like a pro and knocked a scene with Dufort out of the park, the two working seamlessly together to create a gentle camaraderie that had the audience rapt.

Fourth-year student Colin Doig was also a standout as Colonel Ivan Tiletzky while Grace Le, Aidan Dunsmuir, Sheldon Graham and Kristof Melling rounded out the main cast with talented performances.